Serving the community

My mother was involved with a women's volunteer organization for nine years when I was a child, and I remember the large commitment of time and energy which she invested into the mission of the organization.  I know that her role as leader of that organization was an important part of her life, so I asked her if she would describe some of her experiences in serving her community.  Thankfully, she agreed.

Please describe your involvement in that organization
The organization is an international non-profit women's community service and volunteer organization that helps create and fund projects for the community.  The projects eventually pass on to the responsibility of partners in the community, who carry on with all of the necessary functions to keep the project working.  Some examples of projects were bringing Hospice care to the local hospitals and patients living at home, creating counseling programs for couples and starting a recycling center (which continues to be very successful today).  I was an active volunteer for 9 years and served on the executive committee for 7, and now I am a sustaining member.

You were the president, were you not?
Yes, I served as President for a year. 

What are some of the things which you remember most fondly about this organization?
I enjoyed learning about the community and bringing the projects to life.  I liked the people and knowing that I was doing something to improve my community. 

What were some of the most difficult aspects of working in an organization?
The hours involved and how they took time away from my own family. 

Did you experience communication difficulties between organization members?
Sometimes.  Some people could be overbearing about what they considered the best way to accomplish something and some did not give any input at all.

How would those problems be dealt with?
Instead of putting someone in the hot seat, there would be a one-on-one conference where a selected member of the committee (usually the committee chair) would engage in discussion with that certain individual.  This was extremely rare.

What about problems outside of the organization on the community level?
At times, but sometimes (rarely) there would be an issue when the time came for organization to pass the full responsibility of sustaining a project onto the community partner.  If the community partner was not ready to take on the project then we would have to extend its resources until the community partner was ready or the project was completely dropped.  This would take precious resources away from other projects.  Solutions and other ideas, such as plans for fundraising, were shared at the regional level, as well as at the national level at annual conferences.

Please discuss some of the key points of the funding process for this organization.
There were fundraising committees and advertising committees which would seek out sponsors in the community.  We would hold fundraising functions and ask them to sponsor the event.  For example, we used to have a dance that would raise a lot of money.  We also had a thrift shop at the time which brought in large financial support.  The thrift store eventually got shut down because other local resale stores brought in enough competition that made it impossible to continue to serve our purpose.  There are also membership dues, which help cover the overhead. 

Thank you so much for your time!
You are welcome. I appreciate the opportunity.